


A World Without War

by laireshi



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Trailer, Fix-It, Getting Back Together, Happy Ending, Infinity Gauntlet, Infinity Gems, M/M, No Spoilers, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-31
Updated: 2018-03-31
Packaged: 2019-04-15 03:04:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14150547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laireshi/pseuds/laireshi
Summary: When all hope is lost, Tony wields the Infinity Gauntlet.





	A World Without War

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for beta to magicasen! 
> 
> I've always wanted to write MCU Tony using the Infinity Gauntlet, so here it is. This is a part of the Cap-IM celebration of MCU's tenth anniversary, a tribute fic for Infinity War. Also a fill for my stony bingo card, "go be a hero!".
> 
> There are no spoilers for IW in this fic. I avoid any interviews or behind-the-scenes stuff, I've only seen the trailer; literally the only thing taken from it is that Tony faces off against Thanos. Please don't spoil me for anything!

Tony Stark is a futurist, and right now, he knows one thing: they’re going to lose this war.

They’re losing already.

He’s been preparing for _years_ , preparing when no one else believed him, and it wasn’t enough. It wouldn’t have been enough if the whole planet prepared along with him, too: the power at Thanos’ disposal is unimaginable. 

If that’s what he can do with an _incomplete_ Infinity Gauntlet, Tony shudders to think of what he’d do with the full power of the artefact. 

It’s hopeless. He doesn’t see a way out, short of Thanos making a mistake, but he keeps on fighting nevertheless. He’s an Avenger. He won’t ever give up.

Steve’s next to him, and they’re fighting side by side and back-to-back. It feels only natural. Tony doesn’t freeze when Steve throws his shield. He fires his repulsors at it at the right angle to get them reflected into their enemies, not in a futile attempt to break the vibranium anymore. 

It’s almost like it used to be, but even here in the battlefield, with barely enough time to think, Tony _can’t_ forget Siberia, the cold feeling of betrayal, the ever-present hurt. The proof is set into his heart forever, a new arc reactor in his chest.

Some things were never meant to have a happy ending, like him and Steve.

Tony just hopes, against his better judgement, against all the evidence, that this current fight, protecting the Earth and everyone on it, is something that _can be_ won. Something that _will_ be won. A happy ending for once, to make up for the lifetime of bad ones. 

He’s pathetic, but this hope is the last thing that keeps him running, now. 

Thanos’s fist catches him in the jaw, the pain reverberating even through the armour, and Tony hits the ground several metres further, screaming. He didn’t even see him approaching—was he teleporting? Tony blinks his eyes until he can see straight again, and there’s Thanos, walking to him, unhurried, as if nothing could stop him. He’s smiling. 

Tony tries to stand up, but his systems are a mess, half of his faceplate is torn off along with the chestplate. His own muscles feel too weak to move him. 

He’s going to die here, die before he could make any difference. He failed. He hopes the others, Steve, will manage to save the Earth, even as he knows only a miracle can help at this point. But it’s his last seconds, and he wants, just once, to believe in Steve again. 

Thanos raises his fist again and Tony steels himself. 

The punch never comes. 

Steve runs in between Tony and Thanos, his shield raised high. Thanos’s punch connects with it, hard; the strength of it brings Steve to his knees—and the shield shatters around him.

Tony _can’t_ stand up, but he manages to aim a repulsor at Thanos, and he fires it now, again and again, but Thanos doesn’t even seem to notice. He looms over Steve, and Steve’s staring straight into his face. 

“Run, you idiot!” Tony screams. 

Thanos hits Steve again, catching him under his jaw, making him fly away, and Tony can hear it, the sick sound as Steve’s neck breaks. When his body hits the ground again, it lies all wrong, in an unnatural position; broken.

 _No_.

“ _No_!”

“You’re amusing,” Thanos says, stalking to Tony.

Tony doesn’t care. His eyes are set on Steve’s body, and he can’t believe it. He can’t process any of it. Not the _how_ and certainly not the _why_ and it _can’t be true_ , maybe it’s another vision like the one Wanda treated him to years ago, it has to be it, Steve can’t be dead—

How are they supposed to win if Steve’s dead, how can Tony go on if Steve’s dead, how can the world still turn if Steve’s dead? 

It’s all wrong, it’s just—things like that _don’t happen_ , _Steve can’t be dead_.

But he is.

Tony tries to get up, but his legs won’t hold him. He can’t really see anymore; tears are streaming down his face and he’s shaking, and _Steve’s dead_ and _it’s impossible_ and _Tony can’t do it he can’t he can’t let Thanos kill him already Steve can’t be dead no no noooooo—_

There’s a tearing, physical pain in his chest. His first thought is, _Thanos didn’t waste time_. 

But then he blinks, and Thanos is still standing several metres away, unmoving, as if observing Tony’s agony. 

Tony becomes rapidly aware of a multitude of sensations.

Thanos desire to reunite with Death, something too alien to put in words. Rhodey’s desperation on the other side of the battlefield, _too far from Tony_. T’Challa’s grim determination as he slugs it out with Thanos’ generals, _must protect Wakanda_. Strange’s pain and focus on the mystical energies, _he’s the Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme_ , _he won’t fail it_. 

Nothing, absolutely nothing about Steve, because Steve is dead.

The pulsing, almost alive but not quite power in Tony’s hand, the orange light blinding him for a moment before it settles like a new sense in Tony’s head.

 _The Soul Stone_ , he understands. 

He feels the rest of them, now; the vibrating, blue power of the Space Stone, the elusive greenness of the Time Stone . . . The Mind Stone, yellow, almost twin to the Space Stone in Tony’s hand—

Thanos staggers backwards.

The Mind Stone separates itself from the Gauntlet and flies through the air to reunite with the Soul Stone. Tony closes his hand tight around it, but he knows mere physical force will never stop any of the Stones, and so he _wishes_ , with all his being, and he knows it’s closer to magic than to science and he doesn’t care.

 _I want to save the world_. _Help me_.

The Mind Stone falls into his other hand. Tony shivers all over. There are thoughts now: less honest and more composed than the sensations the Soul Stone previously showed him.

Steve’s still quiet; gone.

And Tony, Tony has raw power in his hands.

The Stones don’t just _show_ him the inside of every creature around him. They let him change it.

“Give me the other Gems,” Tony orders Thanos with everything he’s got. 

Thanos laughs at him. 

“You think you can control me, human?”

Tony doesn’t _think_. Tony _knows_. This won’t work if he’s not completely, one hundred percent convinced— _he needs the Gauntlet. He needs to save them all. That’s all that counts._

“I’ve waited for this for hundreds of years,” Thanos says. “You’re not even a telepath. The Mind Stone won’t help you.”

“ _I’m fighting for my world_ ,” Tony answers through gritted teeth. “I will save them.”

Thanos takes a step towards him. 

And then it happens: the red stone shines brighter and flies into Tony’s hand faster than he could follow with his eyes. Red. _Reality_. 

Tony lets himself hope, really hope that he can fix it. He’s read theories in Strange’s eerie library. The Stones are alive, in a way. The Stones want to be together.

It’s not Thanos that Tony should be trying to manipulate, it’s the Stones themselves. 

He can see the programming language of the reality itself, now, but he needs more. He needs all of it. 

“Come on,” he says aloud even if all he needs to do is _to think_. “I need to fix it all. Time and Space.” 

The Stones tremble, and _settle_.

Thanos must’ve caught on to what Tony’s doing. 

Tony glares at him. He won’t let him win, not now. He grabs the Reality Stone tight and he _freezes_ Thanos right where he stands, makes him just out of sync with their version of Reality. Not completely, because then they’d never defeat him: he would just come back in time, and stronger for it. But just enough to stop him, for a while. 

He uses the Reality Stone again to get the other Stones, and they come willingly, Time and Space together, entwined as they are. 

Almost there.

He needs Power to make it _work_ , but he doesn’t even have to worry about it: as soon as the five Stones settle in Tony’s hands, the last one is flying to meet them. 

And then, a golden gauntlet is forming around Tony’s outstretched hand, and the Stones all slide into their slots.

Tony feels strength coursing through his body, and he finally stands up, feeling like Iron Man for the first time in a very, very long time. He extends his hand, wielding the Infinity Gauntlet, _invincible_. 

Tony knows power intimately, and he knows the dangers that it brings. He knows he’s only barely controlling the Gauntlet. That as soon as he gives in to desire, it’ll be the power controlling him, not the other way round. 

It’s all right. He only wants to do one thing. 

Send Thanos back where he came from, this time broken and powerless and with no memory whatsoever of Earth. 

But he could do so much more. He could end all wars. He could end world hunger. He could cure cancer. He could make a world without alcohol. A world without pain and suffering. He could—

 _No_. No he couldn’t. No one could, no one can. And even if—it wouldn’t be a real world at all. 

Tony only wants to _save_ the world, not to remake it. Not to _fix_ it. That’s on all humans, every day. He’s not a god. He doesn’t want to be. 

He _won’t_ be.

He makes his gauntleted hand into a fist and he repeats his order for Thanos’s fate, watches the Mad Titan disappear from in front of his eyes.

He lets himself breathe. He knows this is the time to disassemble the Gauntlet. To separate the Stones, and then find appropriate hiding places for every single one of them. 

He can’t change anything else or he might never stop.

He _can’t_.

He looks at Steve’s body. He doesn’t even have to form the thought. His intention and wish are obvious; have been since he put the Gauntlet on. 

Steve’s body mends itself as Tony watches, and then Steve’s sitting up, gasping awake, disoriented but very much alive.

Tony smiles. 

It’s done it. They’re saved. It’s enough.

He looks at the Infinity Gauntlet. He sees the future.

But it’s not _his_ future.

“We can’t ever afford this again,” he says out loud. Even now, he can’t be sure who’s listening. “So . . . My final action with the Gauntlet will be to destroy it.”

He wishes no such thing, but as he feels the eyes of other Avengers, Wakandian warriors, the Guardians of the Galaxy, countless others, he _thinks_. “Disassemble,” for one, as if ordering the armour, but it works. The Stones separate, and Tony catches them one by one, still incredibly powerful but no longer a single, indescribable force of the universe. The last order is simple _Hide. Wait for me. Mute your powers_.

The Stones disappear.

They all will need to take one, Tony thinks; himself, Strange, T’Challa, Thor, that new Captain Marvel—and Steve, if he agrees. 

But that’s planning. That’s for tomorrow. 

For now . . . 

He looks around. T’Challa and Strange are frowning; ever the scientists. The rest of the assembled heroes are giving Tony impressed looks.

Steve’s standing to the side, weirdly uncertain.

“It’s done,” Tony says aloud. 

They all nod.

Finally, Steve’s the first to approach Tony. “Are you sure saving _me_ was safe?” he asks. 

“I guess _thank you_ was too much to expect,” Tony snaps at him, tired and going down from the rush of being able to do _everything_.

Steve looks chastised, at least. “I’m sorry,” he says. “Thanks, Tony. I just—I don’t want my existence to endanger—well, anything.”

“I know what I’m doing, Rogers,” Tony says sharply. “And if you think I could’ve let you stay dead—” He doesn’t finish the sentence.

Steve’s giving him an intense look. “I guess I’d do the same in your place,” he says, which can’t be true because Tony knows Steve doesn’t care about him, he _knows it_ , except _Steve literally died because he tried to save Tony_. 

It doesn’t fix anything. It doesn’t fix what went down in Siberia, and in the days before that.

Steve kisses him, and he tastes like blood and sweat and the pure miracle of them all being still alive. 

After they separate, Steve rests his forehead on Tony’s. “We need to talk,” he says.

“You certainly have a way with words, Rogers.”Tony feels himself shaking. 

“Steve.” Steve sounds serious. “Call me Steve.”

“. . . Steve,” Tony says, wondering if maybe the Soul Stone didn’t trap him after all. 

“There’s a lot broken between us,” Steve says quietly, still standing so close Tony can feel his breath. “I thought it was too much.”

 _I tried to keep you with me_ , Tony thinks and doesn’t say.

“Turns out dying and coming back changes perspective,” Steve says.

“We did save the world,” Tony says. He’s not quite sure how he’s not a shaking mess on the ground right now from the sheer effort of using the Gauntlet. Maybe that’s thanks to Steve.

“ _You_ did,” Steve corrects, and kisses Tony again before he can protest it. 

**Author's Note:**

> Tony wielding the Infinity Gauntlet is canon for 616 comics.
> 
> This fic has a [tumblr post](https://laireshi.tumblr.com/post/172421907847/a-world-without-war), where you can also see the original comic panel of Tony using the Gauntlet.


End file.
